When a company makes a significant change to its core product offering, it may make sense to launch a rebranding campaign to let existing customers — and the new ones it’s targeting — know about its new focus. However, a full-on rebrand takes a lot of time, effort and resources, and your business may not have the bandwidth or desire for this massive undertaking.

Rather than giving your brand a complete overhaul, it’s possible to execute a smaller-scale brand update by refreshing your image across your digital platforms. We asked members of the Forbes Agency Council how to go about doing this. Their best answers are below.

1. Realign Core Brand Assets

A full redesign is hard to justify when there are so many things you can do to drive more business. We regularly meet to ensure we’re still aligned with the core pieces of our brand. We then audit our products, sites, design assets and internal brand guidelines to make sure we update anything off-brand. This brings everything closer to the center and strengthens our brand position. – Todd Saunders, AdHawk

2. Develop And Refine Your Voice

A brand is one simple thing: the truth about who you are. I find that most companies actually understand their brands very well, they just fundamentally misunderstand how to communicate them. Without making a lot of expensive tactical changes, you can have a huge impact on your brand image by simply defining your voice and speaking in a specific, relatable language to your customers. - Kelli Corney, Mightily

3. Stop Using Cut-And-Pasted Messaging Language

Simply change your words. Give your teams — especially customer service and social media community managers — the freedom to use original, template-guided (not template-cut-and-pasted) casual language. When you speak like a person, not a giant organization, the everyday brand experiences can add up to a big change in perception. - Alec McNayr, McBeard

4. Revisit Your Target Persona

First and foremost, remember that branding is more than the visual brand elements such as a logo and color palette. Brand voice, tone and messaging are powerful tools in building or rebuilding a brand image. Rebranding is often driven by a new or evolving target demographic. Start there and clearly define your target persona so your messaging will resonate with your best target customer. – Keri Witman, Cleriti

5. Consider A Fresh Campaign

Mix in some new market insights with some of your existing brand insights to find your voice in a new and fresh campaign. The mini-campaign can have its unique identity within your branding guidelines, but it may highlight an unconventional side of your company that can refresh your image across platforms. - Ahmad Kareh, Twistlab Marketing

6. Update Your Style Guide And Tag Line

The easiest approach would probably be to update your company style guide and tagline, but make sure you have a good story to back up your reasoning for doing so. You want to be able to easily bridge the gap between what you were doing with the old branding and what you’re doing now. - Eric Dahan, Open Influence

7. Fine-Tune Your Messaging To Make Sure It Resonates

True branding is all about your message. Take time to get clear on the message you want to send. Who are you? How can you tell your story in a way that resonates? Can you position yourself in your community? Focus on who you are and demonstrate it in your actions on social media. While not your typical rebranding move, a deep dive into your messaging is significantly more impactful. - Katie Harris, Spot On Solutions

8. Launch A New Product

Many smaller companies jump to rebranding as they pivot their business plan. This has damaging effects on SEO and past marketing investments. Instead of rebranding entirely, consider launching a new product and retain your existing corporate identity. Modern customers expect companies to have multiple product lines, and adding a “new” brand to the mix is easier than a rebrand. - Marc Hardgrove, The HOTH

9. Try New Marketing Channels

One way to refresh your image is to reach a new set of potential customers. The most cost-effective method is to get your message over other sales and marketing channels. For example, if SEO and PPC were your main digital platforms, perhaps launching a Snapchat or expanded Instagram campaign will get you in front of potential clients who may not have otherwise seen your product. - Tom La Vecchia, MBA, X Factor Media

10. Create Content To Influence Perception

Branding is perception. Today’s brands have the unprecedented luxury of communicating directly with their audiences without relying solely on third parties like the media to evoke certain emotions or actions. Creating content that guides those audiences — and communicates with them across channels — to a new brand image is the best way to begin to influence perception. - Kathleen Lucente, Red Fan Communications

11. Improve Your Photography

There are thousands of small to medium-sized businesses that have spent more money on their logo sign and couch in their office entry than they have on their photography. Photography is one of the most impactful yet underrated differentiators. - Ryan Short, MODassic Marketing

Latest Article

A style guide is a pre-defined set of standards for the design and theming of a company’s marketing collateral. It establishes and enforces style to improve communication and ensures consistency across the board.

Related Articles

A style guide is a pre-defined set of standards for the design and theming of a company’s marketing collateral. It establishes and enforces style to improve communication and ensures consistency across the board.